Quit Your Pitchin' (There's No Crying in Baseball 2)

And then my doorbell rang.

Warily, I walked to the door.

I checked the peephole and frowned, then yanked the door open.

“Diamond?” I asked, my voice still sounding thick with tears.

Diamond was at my door, and I looked at her with such shock that I didn’t once contemplate not letting her in.

“Diamond, what’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

Diamond looked like she was about to swallow a beach ball.

“I had to come talk to you.”

“About what?” I questioned, wiping my hands over my eyes.

“I know what you think you saw.”

I frowned. “What do you think I saw?”

Diamond swallowed.

“George and Melanie.”

My stomach churned.

“What you saw wasn’t anything of George’s doing. That was all Dodger,” Diamond said softly.

“How do you know?” I laughed miserably. “It looked pretty damn real to me. They were kissing! Oh, and let’s not forget that Dodger wasn’t even here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just know what I heard.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it, unsure what to say.

“And what, pray tell, did you hear?” I laughed hysterically. “And them kissing on national television wasn’t the only thing I saw. I saw them together at the park while I was working, again on the freakin’ television. While he was taking care of our son. And I walked in my door and found her kissing him. Again.”

Diamond looked like she was about to be ill.

“Dodger got to her.”

My heart slammed in my chest. Again with Dodger.

“I’m pretty sure Dodger didn’t get to George. He wasn’t fighting the kiss. And he was willingly smiling down at her at the park. Oh, and he brought her to the fucking game today, and sat her in My seats.”

Diamond winced.

“I went to her house today, and Dodger was there talking to our grandmother,” Diamond said.

My brows went up. “You willingly went to our grandmother’s house?”

Diamond shrugged. “There was something there that I wanted.” She waved her hand in the air. “But that’s neither here nor there. What you need to know is that they were talking about that girl.”

“Melanie?”

She nodded.

“What were they talking about her for?”

“Dodger thought it’d be a grand idea to play up the interaction between Melanie and me because of who she is, and who I am.”

I whipped my head around and found George standing in my open doorway. “And your grandmother is doing it because her father is a Mr. Moneybags. She only sees dollar signs, and has no care in the world that she’s hurting you in the process.”

That was always the way with her, honestly. That didn’t surprise me.

What did surprise me was that George was standing in my doorway.

“What are you doing here?” I stiffened.

“I’m here because I want to be here,” he said simply. “I tried to give you time to cool down and talk about this rationally, but then you left the stadium today and came straight here. I tried to get in, but security refused to let me pass because you put me on a list of visitors that weren’t approved.”

My lips twitched.

I had done that.

“That doesn’t explain how you’re standing here right now,” I pointed out.

“The night security guard likes me,” he explained. “And I still pay the lease on this place.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it.

“You told me it was paid for two years,” I replied somewhat shrilly. “And each time I tried to pay, and get them to send you a refund check, they refused!”

George shrugged, then his eyes strayed to Diamond.

“Nice to see you,” he grinned.

And he actually sounded sincere.

I bit my lip and returned my gaze to my sister. “You, too.” She looked back at me. “Dodger is a dick. Listen to him.”

Then she headed toward the door that George was still blocking.

The moment she got up next to him, she tilted her head way up and said, “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”

George blinked, then nodded. “For what it’s worth, I accept your apology.”

Then he moved to the side, and Diamond left without another word.

I was left staring awkwardly at the love of my life, wondering what I should say.

I was still mad.

I didn’t care about my brother or my grandmother.

What I cared about was the fact that George kept kissing her.

“Go ahead and try to convince me, then.” I laughed under my breath, then walked to the kitchen and reached for a wine glass. Moments later I had it filled to the brim and was taking a sip.

“Her kissing me at the final game was purely by accident. I caught the ball in front of her face, she was going to kiss me on the cheek, and I turned because she was talking and I couldn’t hear her. That was it. I didn’t mean to do that,” he explained to my back.

I tensed. “And the park? What happened there?”

One time I could buy. Two times, I couldn’t.